Fight the Tides
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: Sparx gets herself into trouble at the junkyard. But things may not be as bad as they seem... FINAL CHAPTER!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Lightning. Dur.

A/n: Yes, I know some people have been waiting for this, so here it is. First romance for me and I've tried not to make it overly mushy so reviews are wanted. If you don't like romance, read it anyway. There's some other interesting stuff in here… but that would be telling. ;)

* * *

**Fight the Tides**

"You stupid dog, where are you?" grumbled Kat. Julie had run off when Kat had taken her for a walk and now she was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Kat! What's up?"

Kat looked around, confused for a moment as to where the voice was coming from. Then she looked up. "Sparx! Sorry, I didn't expect to see you, um, up there."

"Ah, my fault," Sparx replied. She lowered the lightning flash down to ground level.

"My dog's gone and run away," Kat complained. "I can't find her anywhere."

"Guess we've got he same sort of problem then. I was just seeing if I could find Lord Fear. But I doubt we'll see that bonehead until he's ready."

"He can stay away as long as he likes for all I care. Those guys are way too freaky." Kat hadn't been too impressed when she'd been kidnapped by the evils and trapped in the carnival. The only good thing coming out of it had been meeting Sparx.

"So… I suppose you and Ace have got nothing to do until then?" she added suggestively.

Sparx sighed. She liked having Kat to talk to but the human girl seemed to see through her all too easily. When Sparx had explained to Kat about Ace and Lady Illusion she'd immediately picked up that Sparx's annoyance at the relationship had to do with more than just the fact Lady Illusion was evil. "Like I'd sink that low. I told you, he's in love with Lady Illusion. I'm not going to try and change his mind. Besides, I'm not really sure how I feel."

Kat shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Anyway, now we've got the girly moment aside why don't I help you find your dog. I've got nothing better to do."

"Thanks. I think she ran off into the junkyard. I was going to check in there next."

"Ah, you really don't want to go in there."

"Why not? It's just a junkyard."

"Yeah, but Random Virus lives there."

"Wait, I thought he was a lightning knight. Doesn't he live with you and Ace?"

"No, he lives in the junkyard. Remember I said he had anger issues? Well, that was a bit of an understatement. You walk in there and he'll probably try rip your head off."

"Ok…" said Kat, "that's a pretty good reason. But what about my dog?"

"Relax, I'll go get her."

"What if Random tries to rip _your_ head off?"

"Let's just hope he's in a good mood," muttered Sparx. She revved the lightning flash and took off.

"Sparx!" shouted Kat, but she was already out of earshot.

* * *

Random Virus pushed open the door to his ramshackle shack and squinted outside. The sun was nearly halfway up the sky and it was already getting hot under the tin roof. At the other extreme, whenever it rained, the stupid thing leaked. Random somehow felt it was strangely appropriate. Extremes, after all, seemed to be the story of his life.

"Yap!"

Random looked down to where the sound had come from. Something that had to be a dog, but looked more like a rat looked up at him.

"Yap!"

"What do you want?" grumbled Random.

The dog cocked its head to the side and made a whining noise.

"Well you'd better go before my evil takes over. The last dog that came in here I tried to kill."

The dog ignored him and started sniffing around his wheel, then proceeded to lift its leg.

"Hey!" growled Random, rolling out of the way. "Go away if you're going to do that!"

"Yap!"

"Go on! Leave me alone!" He gasped and held his hand to his head, his evil side suddenly stabbing into his mind.

At that moment Sparx flew around the corner on the lightning flash. "Have you seen a dog?" she asked having decided to use the direct approach.

"What?!" demanded Random. "Do you want to mark your territory on me too?!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Why can't everyone just leave me in peace?" Another wave of evil overtook Random.

"I don't think it's everyone else that's the problem…" observed Sparx, startled by the severity with which Random's evil side fought for control.

Kat's dog whined, confused as to what was happening, then turned and ran out of the junkyard.

Sparx realised now would probably be a good time to leave. She'd rescued the dog and Random's evil side was obviously taking over. To stay would not be a good idea. But it suddenly occurred to her that while she and the dog could run away, Random could not. And one thing a lightning knight did not do was desert a friend during a fight. At least, that was the reason she gave herself.

She jumped off the lightning flash and walked up to Random. "Hey, calm down, alright?"

"Go away!" growled Random, actually backing away from her.

"Look, if you need help…"

"I don't need help from a coward!" shouted Random, his evil side snapping fully into control. He swung his claw and Sparx suddenly realised she was way too close. She ducked and ended up falling over into the dirt. Her mind automatically searched for an insult, as it did in almost any situation. But she had been so startled when Random nearly hit her all she could come up with was: "Cut it out, wheelbutt!"

Random raised his claw again.


	2. Retro Gaming

"Dude, this is so retro!" exclaimed Chuck. "I like it!"

"It must be pretty old," said Mark. "Are you sure this can help?"

Chuck had managed to get hold of a copy of an older version of Ace Lightning. The graphics were pretty bad and the sound was dodgy but he'd figured they might be able to get some useful information out of it. That and he just wanted and excuse to play it.

"I remember this," said Ace, leaning closer over Chuck's chair. "Are you sure we need to see it? I already know what's happened."

Mark glanced up at Ace, feeling slightly concerned for his friend. Ace didn't seem too comfortable watching Chuck play. After all, he had only discovered a few days before that his life had, up until recently, been a video game.

"We might see something you missed," Mark finally said. "And sometimes they'll show things you didn't see. You know, like things that happen when you're someplace else, but they're still important to the storyline."

"Yeah, usually in an animated sequence or something," added Chuck offhandedly, too busy with making the computer Ace blast some dog-like machines. He was currently on a level where just about everything was mechanical. All the enemies were robot monsters of some sort. While they looked threatening they tended to attack the same every time, which made them fairly easy to destroy once you'd gotten the hang of it.

"This happened just before we lost Random Virus," said Ace suddenly.

"What?" asked Mark. He looked at the screen. In this earlier version Random Virus didn't have any of his mechanical parts yet. He was currently blasting the robots right along with Ace and Sparx.

"Look, you don't have to stay and watch this, Ace," said Mark when Ace didn't answer. He realised that perhaps the reality, or lack, might not be the only thing about the game that was bothering Ace.

"You said this could show us stuff I didn't see?" said Ace finally.

"Yeah."

"Well maybe it'll show us what happened to Random. And hopefully how to fix it."

"Sweet! I'm in!" exclaimed Chuck. He'd finally defeated the mass of robots. The point had been to get a bomb to the top of the level. While stupid robots were one thing, the boss of the machine world – yet to be revealed – had been experimenting on creating much more intelligent AI machines. These would pose much more of a threat than the ones Chuck had just disposed of. So much more in fact that they needed to be destroyed at any cost before they could be activated. This was what the bomb was for.

The game auto saved, taking a great deal of time, then finally loaded an animated sequence.

Mark felt Ace shift his weight next to him, obviously uncomfortable watching himself on the screen.

On the computer Ace, Sparx and Random Virus flew into a large room. Banks of computers and flashing lights filled it, towering up to the high ceiling.

"Right," the computer Ace was saying, "we need to take out all this. All the AI that controls the new machines should be here."

"I've got the bomb!" said Sparx, pulling a bulky capsule off the back of the lightning flash. "This should make quite a bang."

"We've got to turn the thing on first," pointed out Random. He took it off her and placed it on the ground. "I've just got to make sure the timer's going to work properly. It got damaged before. It's no good if that doesn't work."

"Ok," said Ace. "Do it quick though. I'd like to get some of those machines destroyed too. They may be able to operate by themselves."

"Hold on," said Random. He fiddled a bit more then stopped. "You and Sparx go and take care of them. I'll set this up then follow you."

"You sure?"

Random seemed to pause slightly before answering. "Yeah."

"Ok. Sparx, let's go."

The two lightning knights flew out.

Ace slammed his hand on the desk, startling Chuck. "I shouldn't have left him behind…" he started, but stopped as he realised the scene was continuing. He hadn't seen this before.

On the computer screen, Random tapped the timer a few more times. Then ripped it off and threw it across the room. He sighed and looked back at the bomb. "Sorry, Ace. But I'm going to have to set this thing off manually."

Mark expected the next bang on the desk to snap it in two, but it never came.

Ace glared at the computer, only turning away as the explosion lit up the screen. He walked over to Mark's window, staring outside.

Mark followed him over, unsure what to say but too concerned not to try. "Ace…"

"He lied to me," growled Ace. "He knew it wasn't working, that's why he told us to leave."

"You didn't know that then."

"I should be able to tell if my best friend's lying to me."

"Hey, don't blame yourself," said Chuck. "One time, I asked Mark if he had ice cream. He said no. But he really had this four litre tub in the freezer. I didn't realise he was lying til I found it."

"Wait, you ate that?!"

"The whole four litres…" Chuck replied, patting his stomach.

"That's not really the same," said Ace, looking both confused and annoyed at the same time. "Look, just keep playing the game."

"Ace, are you sure that's a good idea," Mark asked.

"It still hasn't told us what happened to Random."

"Dude, he got caught in an explosion. That's going to mess anyone up if they survive."

"Explosions don't rewrite half your program. Something else happened and I want to find out what."

"Alright, next level is loading."


	3. A bit of flirting?

A/n: As I said, I've never written a romance before, nor do I have any experience, so hopefully this chapter works. Also credit for the ice cream paragraph last chapter goes to my little sis. And sorry everyone for all the minor cliff-hangers. Seriously, I did not do that on purpose!

------

Sparx shut her eyes, waiting for the blow to fall. When it didn't come she looked up. Random was still standing there, his claw in the air. They just stared at each other for a couple of seconds.

"What did you call me?" Random asked, finally dropping his claw to his side.

"Um…" said Sparx, "…wheelbutt." She slowly stood up, the situation was altogether confusing.

"Why?"

"Well, you do have a wheel on your butt."

Random stared at her again, then a smile appeared on his face. "That's just… stupid," he laughed.

"What else did you expect me to say?" said Sparx indignantly. "You were trying to kill me!"

Random stopped laughing. "I was… but, my evil's gone now."

"Well, that's a relief."

"No," said Random, looking confused, "it doesn't normally leave like that. If it had that much control I should've destroyed you. But it just left. I didn't even feel it go."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes, it's gone, at least for now. I guess you…" here Random looked up at Sparx, and was cut short as his eyes locked with hers.

"…distracted me," he finally finished.

Sparx broke the gaze. There was something in there she'd never seen before. Suddenly she couldn't seem to think of anything to say.

"No problem," she finally managed to get out. "I should probably go now…"

"No, wait," said Random. "What just happened?"

"I'm not sure."

"Me neither, but you stopped my evil in its tracks. That's got to mean something."

"Like what?"

Random smiled. "Now we're going 'round in circles. Believe me, I don't need that."

"Sorry," Sparx smiled back.

"Just don't leave, alright."

Sparx blinked at him, confused. Usually Random was yelling at everyone to go, even when his good side was in control.

"I…" Random started to explain. He had been about to say he wasn't letting her go that easily. But was there anything to let go? Having spent he last year in the junkyard, while he didn't exactly understand what was going on, he was not going to let a single chance slip, whether he was grasping at air or not. "I just don't want to be alone."

"Fair enough," Sparx shrugged. Some of her usual fire seemed to leak back in as she added: "I'm sure there's something we can find to do under this mountain of junk."

Random grinned at her; for once he didn't feel worried about what he might do within the next half hour. "I can think of a few things…"

While the junkyard didn't have so much in the way of entertainment, Sparx and Random soon found some imaginative things to do. This included trying to fix one of the many car hulks lying around, that is, until the engine blew up. The car, now useless, had been subjected to having tic-tac-toe boards and also one battleship grid scratched into its paintwork. After they'd run out of space on the car, Sparx had found a piece of metal that she said looked like a head and they had ended up building a 'snowman' out of junk. Finally they had found an old Nintendo 64 console, a controller and a slightly damaged TV.

"Cool! It's working!" exclaimed Sparx excitedly.

"One of the only things here that does," grumbled Random, who'd had his face almost in the car's engine when it'd decided to blow up, but he was smiling as he said it. He flicked the console on and loaded a racing car game. "But it's got two player mode. You up for a challenge?"

"Um, problem, hello? One controller."

"Who needs a controller?"

"Huh? Oh… it's a machine, right. In that case you're on!"

Halfway through the first race Random swiped Sparx's car.

"Hey! You scratched my paint!"

"Just 'cause you're losing…" laughed Random, staring at the screen in concentration.

Sparx growled, catching up to Random's car. When she got up alongside him he swiped her again.

"Now you're just flirting!" said Sparx and then blushed when she realised what she'd just said.

Random Virus, too engrossed in the game, didn't notice and just pulled his car ahead.

Sparx lost control suddenly and crashed into a wall. "No! I didn't do that! Random, you fiddled with my controls!"

"What?!"

"Yeah!"

"Sorry, Sparx," replied Random with a smile. "That's just your bad driving."

Sparx growled. "If they were lightning flash's I would've kicked your butt!"

Random just laughed at her so Sparx threw the controller at him. It hit him in the head, bouncing off with a loud clank.

"Ow!"

"Um… Sorry!"

"I'm starting to think this is more hazardous for me than you," Random grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, well you know me, always taking risks."

The 64 was now useless due to the broken controller and Sparx turned her gaze to the sky. "You know it's gotten dark and we didn't even notice. The stars are really clear from here, too bad we couldn't find an old telescope."

"Sparx, you have a massive one back at the Thunder Tower."

"We do too. Hey, why don't you come over there and we can take a look. I'm not sure how to move it around but I bet you could get it going."

Random thought that would be fun, but then felt doubt flood his mind. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"What? Why not? Come on, you've been fine all day."

"That doesn't count for anything. I'm so unpredictable it's probably just a fluke. This whole day was a stupid idea. Who knows what I could've done to you." Random rolled slowly backwards, away from Sparx, until he bumped into a car hulk. He hung his head and looked at he ground. "I'm sorry, you should go."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Sparx defiantly. "I don't know how you expect to ever sort yourself out if you just tell everyone to go when you're like this. It's the worst thing you could do!"

"I don't want to hurt anyone. The risk's not worth taking."

"Well, like I said, I'm always ready to take a risk." Sparx came and stood beside him. She placed her hand on Random's metal arm, where it joined his flesh.

"Sparx, I know you want to help…" As he said that last word, Random felt his evil side flash across his mind like a shadow, leaving him with glimpses of thoughts that he would never before believed he could posses. He tried to look for something, anything in that glimpse that meant he could save himself. But the only thing he saw was darkness.

"Random…?" asked Sparx, concerned by his silence.

Random looked up at her, his eyes misty. "I can't live like this anymore," he said, suddenly realising how far gone he was. "I can't even remember how long I've been like this…"

"I know it must've been sometime after that explosion you got caught in," prompted Sparx, trying to help. "I suppose you can't remember what happened after…"

"I remember…"

Sparx felt him go tense, his claw scraping the side of the car.

"You remember what happened?"

Random stared ahead, trying to ignore the memories, images and feeling rushing back to the front of his mind. "Most of it."

"Why haven't you told Ace before?"

"I don't know. Because then I'd have to think about it."

"Maybe if you told someone they could think about it for you."

"Maybe." Random paused. Strangely, that made a lot of sense. "Sparx… if you'll listen to me. I don't think I can say this more than once."

"I'm listening."

Random took a deep breath, shut his eyes, felt the darkness that slowly began to fill with images…


	4. Dark Memories

A/n: I sure hope I did this part right, I had to rewrite like four times! Please review on this part, I really want feedback.

* * *

Random Virus opened his eyes, blinking wearily. The last thing he remembered was pressing the detonation button, then just white, searing hot noise. 

By some fluke he must have survived. Unless heaven was a dimly lit room of undeterminable size, filled with half working bits of machinery and broken, sparking cables. Somehow he didn't think it'd have what could only be described as failed experiments, the demented creatures floated in a half-dozen tubes which extended from ceiling to floor.

Now Random felt nervous. He tried to sit up, despite his critically low power, and felt a sharp pain in his wrists holding him down. He glanced at his left arm and saw that it was pinned to the slab he lay on by some sort of energy field. He pushed against it and felt it stab back proportionally to the force he applied. The field on his right arm felt like it was stabbing back anyway. Random looked over, then turned away wincing. It wasn't the field; the explosion had melted his wrist cannon into his arm. His whole right side must have taken the force of the explosion. The side of his face felt like someone had run over him with a mower. Finally, he tried moving his legs but couldn't feel them at all. Considering the circumstances that was probably a good thing.

Random closed his eyes again, trying to calm himself.

"Random Virus, I see you're awake," growled a voice.

Random's eyes snapped open.

A figure stood in the shadows. It stepped forward into the dim blue light cast by the tubes. He was a dragon, standing about seven feet tall on his hind legs. He wore a white lab coat, contrasting sharply with his jet black scales. A thin plate of metal was moulded to the back of his right hand.

"Mech?" said Random. "What are you doing here?"

The dragons that lived in the sixth dimension were quite intelligent, and being such would often help the lightning knights. Mech particularly would help them with their technology and weapons. He had helped build Sparx's lightning flash.

"You know me and machines," Mech replied.

"Just hurry up and get me off of this," said Random, missing the malice in the dragon's words.

Mech walked up to the slab then suddenly leaned into Random's face, gripping claws into the lightning knight's damaged arm. "I don't think so," he growled, sulphurous breath gushing from his nostrils.

"What?!" gasped Random, trying to ignore the claws and understand. "You're behind all these machines, aren't you?"

"I thought you of all people would recognise my work," Mech snorted.

"Why? I thought you were helping us?"

"I was. But this is so much more fun!" he gloated. He let go of Random's arm and paced the room. "Then you went and blew it all up. I have the greatest mechanical army just sitting there and they can't move a single piston!"

"Sorry to ruin your day," said Random sarcastically.

"You're not very smart you know," continued Mech, ignoring him. "You blew yourself up too."

"I noticed that. Like I care anymore. Your army's unusable. That's all that counts."

"Which brings me to the next point as to why you're not so smart. Don't you think I'd have a plan B?"

"I don't know. Would you?"

"Not a very viable one," Mech admitted. "Random, there is one problem with machines. They are incredibly stupid. Even that AI computer was still stupid, though it was quite capable of doing its job extremely well. Plan B is a program that would give someone like you or me the power to actually control machines at will. Just like the AI computer only much more intelligent. Unfortunately, it has been too powerful for any of the subjects. It keeps on totally wiping out the previous program and utterly destroying them. But there was nothing wrong with the program, they simply were not strong enough!"

"You've actually tested this? On living beings?"

"Well, how else was I supposed to know if it worked? You don't understand, this is a technological breakthrough."

"I'm sure your subjects would agree," growled Random. "You're nothing but a pathetic coward. Why don't you just test it on yourself if you think it's so great?"

"I have to be alive to debug any faults. Obviously."

"I don't care!" shouted Random with the last of his strength, he was sick of Mech's excuses. "Just shut up about your stupid program. It doesn't work. My power's going to be gone in a few minutes anyway. At least I won't have to listen to you."

"I can help you with that."

"What, by shutting up?"

"I meant I can help you be strong again," Mech clarified with a small puff of smoke. He stopped pacing and stepped up beside Random, "for a small price."

"Forget it. I don't make deals with cowards."

"You don't appreciate the importance of this do you?" Mech snorted.

"I _appreciate_ the fact that what's wrong will always be wrong, Mech, no matter how great, or how fun you think it is. The same goes for what's right. I don't care if I kill myself doing that. I would rather die that find myself doing what's wrong for whatever reasons. So whatever your price is, I don't care. I'm not doing it."

A growl issued from deep within the dragon's throat. "Fine, I don't need your approval. The program does work. All it needs is a strong mind. If you can survive that blast from your stupid bomb then you're strong enough to carry it." Mech pulled a computer chip out of his pocket.

"You're not putting that in me!" said Random, pulling against the energy field in vain.

"Once you feel its power you will agree with me," smirked Mech, enjoying Random's distress. He pressed the chip onto the piece of metal on his right hand. It clicked into some circuitry, whirring softly as it found its connections. Mech held up his hand so Random could see the three needle-sharp metal claws extending from the plate. They were at least four inches long. Data spurted from the tips. "Are you ready for the transfer?"

"No!"

"Good."

Mech plunged the shards of metal into Random's stomach so violently they buried themselves right up to the dragon's fist.

It wasn't so much the knifing pain Random felt, but the sudden invasion that tore through him. He felt like a torrent of liquid nitrogen had been pumped into his circuits, freezing and shattering everything it touched. He gripped the slab tighter and gritted his teeth as his body arched under the strain and then slumped, unconscious as his mind retreated.

Random didn't know how much later but he woke up, confused, half a second later remembering where he was. He pulled against the energy field again. This time, he somehow managed to tear through them. He pushed himself off the slab, feeling disorientated. Where had Mech gone? He landed on the floor with a clanking noise. There was something terribly wrong about that and Random did not want to look down and see why.

His right hand felt heavy. Random looked to his side and held up the hulking metal claw now welded to his arm. It too clanked as Random's arm started shaking.

"I know it's not as advanced as mine," came Mech's voice from the near darkness. "I had to make do. Besides, I think it suits you."

"What did you do?!" Random demanded.

"Well it's not my fault you got yourself caught in an explosion. I had to make sure you'd be useful."

"Useful for what? I said I wasn't helping you. Especially now."

"I saved your life!" Mech growled, stalking out of the shadows. "At least see what you can do." He pointed to a machine sitting in a corner. "Just look at that, feel it."

Random looked at the machine. "I don't…" he stopped. The hulk moved. He was making it.

It clattered to the floor as Random rolled back in shock, and then looked down in shock when he realised he was rolling.

"You have the power. You don't need to do right. But you can fear not. Help me with this Random. Don't lower yourself to the level of a lightning knight."

"They're weak…" said Random, feeling he was understanding.

"And you are strong," Mech finished smiling.

"They should be destroyed…" Random stopped, realising what he'd just said. "No! I'm not helping! Get this thing out of me, now!"

"No."

"What! You coward! Argh!" Random doubled over as a wave of darkness swept through his mind. "Turn it off!"

"I can't," said Mech, starting to look mildly worried. "It shouldn't be doing that. The new program must be trying to write you over. I thought it wouldn't do that with you."

Random Virus looked up suddenly, his right eye glowing red. "I will destroy weakness! This world is full of it."

"Good."

"Starting with you…"

"What?!" Mech backed away as Random rolled forward. "Right, I'm shutting you down." He pulled another data chip out of his pocket and connected it to the plate, extended his claws and swiped at Random. His hand froze in the air. Mech stared at it, confused.

"That thing is mechanical, isn't it?" growled Random.

Mech's eyes widened as he fully realised his mistake.

Random surfaced through the darkness, disorientated. Something had taken him over unexpectedly, he felt like he'd nearly drowned just trying to push it back.

"I made you strong," he heard Mech say, sounding as if he was choking. The dragon lay on the floor, his throat torn open by three gashes spurting flame-tinted data.

"Mech? What happened…"

"You! You twisted maniac, you're insane!"

"What did I do? I'm sorry! I don't know what happened!" Random was mad at Mech, but he didn't think he was _that_ mad.

"I do! That program should work fine. You were stronger than the rest but something in you has made it malfunction. It only builds off what's already there, that's why it can't work with weakness. But I don't want to know what it found in you!"

Mech flickered, fading with his last words. Random was left staring at the empty floor, the dark tiles reflecting the image of someone, something he didn't know.

* * *

Ace leaned back in the computer chair and closed his eyes. 

Chuck had long since gotten tired of playing and had gone downstairs, probably to get something to eat. Mark had followed him but had obviously still been concerned about Ace, who'd stayed upstairs to keep on playing, still wanting to find out what had happened to Random Virus. Now Ace somehow wished he hadn't seen that last sequence.

"I thought I could find a way to help you, old friend," Ace said quietly, his eyes still shut. "But now I don't know if anything I could do can save you."


	5. Some Friend

Downstairs, Mark was fast losing his chances of getting a second helping of dinner, mostly because Chuck was on thirds. Though that probably wouldn't have bothered him particularly as he'd hardly eaten anything on his plate and didn't look like he was going to.

"Mark, eat your dinner," said Fiona automatically.

There was a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it!" said Mark, nearly knocking over his chair. He knew his parents would probably start probing for information in a minute.

Mark rushed to the door and opened it. It was Kat.

"Hi, Mark."

Mark went to say 'hi' back, but then suddenly remembered Kat was his girlfriend and perhaps he should say something else. Then he realised while pondering this he'd just been staring at her, opened mouthed, for the past three seconds.

"Mark… hello?"

"Ah, hi," Mark finally said, deciding 'hi' was fine to say after all. "You want to come in."

"Not really. I'm worried about Sparx."

"Why? What's happened?"

"She was helping me look for my dog. I wanted to look in the junkyard for it but she wouldn't let me and then she went in. Julie came out a few minutes later but Sparx hasn't."

"How long ago was that?"

"A few hours."

"That's not good."

"Yeah, that's why I came and told you."

"Right, I'll go get Ace. He's upstairs. We'll go and see if she's alright."

Mark and Kat went inside.

"Mum, Dad, I'm going out!" yelled Mark as he ran upstairs.

"What about your dinner…" said Fiona, but trailed off when she realised most of it was gone. She was pretty sure there had been more on Mark's plate when he'd left the table.

"Ace, we've got a problem," said Mark as he opened the door to his bedroom.

Ace didn't seem to have heard him and was just staring at the computer screen, seemingly lost in thought.

"Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong? Are you stuck or something?"

"You could say that," replied Ace, "but I did find out what happened to Random Virus."

"Great, we'll probably need that. Sparx went chasing Kat's dog into the junkyard and Kat didn't see her come out."

"Trust Sparx," grumbled Ace, annoyed at having to once again go and rescue her. "But I doubt this will help."

"Why not? If you know how it happened, can't you figure out how to undo it?

"I wish. But I don't think it can be undone. I did find out who did it to him, but the only thing that sort of information is good for is revenge."

"I wouldn't have thought revenge was something a lightning knight would consider," said Mark cautiously.

"It's not," said Ace, looking up at Mark with a slightly hurt expression. "But that didn't stop Random from destroying him outright. Mech messed him up, but he would know how to fix him. Random destroyed any hope of that."

After an uncomfortable silence Mark said: "We need to go help Sparx…"

"Since getting human emotions…" Ace blurted out, then stopped short.

"It's ok, I'm listening," Mark prompted.

Ace continued more slowly. "It's getting harder for me to trust him. I know I should. It's just some of the things he does, a lightning knight's not supposed to do. Random would never have done. I know he's got a problem, and he's asked me to save him. But I can't. Instead… instead I just turned on him like I didn't even care he'd tried to get it right. Some friend I am."

"Hey, so you messed up once. Big deal. Friends mess up all the time; it doesn't mean they're not a good friend. You've been up here all day trying to help Random. That tells me you're a good friend. All you can do is try, Ace."

"What if trying's not good enough?"

Mark didn't have an answer for that, at least not anything encouraging.

"C'mon, kid. Sparx probably needs us. I'll meet you at the junkyard."

"Yeah, alright," Mark replied, defeated.

Ace flew out the window and Mark went back downstairs.

"Chuck! We're going."

"Imfooodft!" replied Chuck.

"Kat, perhaps you should wait here…"

"Oh, no. Sparx is my friend too."

"It could be dangerous," Mark explained, lowering his voice.

"Yeah, I already got that from Sparx. This time, you go, I go."

"Alright then. But we have to be careful. Chuck, c'mon!"

Chuck grabbed the last of his food off his plate and ran out after Mark and Kat.

"Bye Mr and Mrs Hollander!" called out Kat.

"Where do you suppose they're going?" Simon asked his wife.

Fiona shrugged. "They're teenagers, Simon. They've probably just remembered about a party or something. Mark has his phone anyway."

"Oh, good." Simon looked at the empty serving dish. "I only got one piece of chicken…" he said sadly.


	6. Not Alone

A/n: Yes, finally, I'm posting the final chapter. The lyrics in this chapter are from the song 'Alone' by _Sanctus Real._ I do not own them!

* * *

Sparx, for the second time that day couldn't think of anything to say.

Random had told the whole thing with his eyes firmly shut, as if he could somehow see it all playing out in his mind and was simply telling Sparx exactly what he saw. He was still standing there with his eyes closed a full minute later.

"I'm sorry, we never should have left you," Sparx finally said.

"You guys had nothing to do with it," Random replied softly.

"But we're a team! We all should've been there when the bomb malfunctioned!"

"Sparx, the bomb was working fine. The only thing broken was the timer."

"That wouldn't cause it to blow up," Sparx protested. "That would just mean…"

"… it would have to be set off manually," Random finished for her. He finally opened his eyes and looked up at her, and saw her eyes filled with fire.

"So you did it yourself! Without telling us!"

"It only takes one person to press a button. Ace would've wanted to do it himself if I'd said." Random looked down at his metal claw, glared at like he'd rip it off if he could. "He doesn't deserve this."

"Well neither do you!'

"That's debatable."

"What?!"

"I told you what Mech said. This thing only uses what's already there. Everything I am now I've always been."

"You dumb lugnut! What does Mech know? That's wrong and you know it!"

"Like I'd know the difference between right and wrong."

"Well I know you do, and so does Ace. You don't deserve this and it's not your fault. It's Mech's. He had no right to do that to anyone."

"I can deal with what happened that day," said Random after a moments pause.

"See," Sparx smiled, "told you talking about it would help."

"But probably only because it seems so pathetic compared to what I have to live with everyday…"

Sparx's smile faded.

"Have you tried living in a junkyard?! With no one to talk to? Just your own mind screaming at you, every second? You turn your back for a moment and it's on you. You're losing control, you try to push it back but it's like it's dug its claws in and you can feel them tearing you apart every time you try and fight. Then you let it take over, because you believe it, or you just want the pain in your head to go away… it never goes away." Random stopped, trying to pull himself out of the downward spiral. He only managed to by looking back towards Sparx. "Except it went away today. Sparx… I, is something happening between us?"

Sparx seemed to have gone all shy again. She looked down at the ground, scuffing her boot through the dirt. "Well, I did have fun," she admitted. She looked back up to see Random smiling back at her.

"If there was something going on," Random said cautiously, "it wouldn't be all fun. I've really messed up. I'm really messed up. You'd be able to do a lot better."

"Yeah, maybe I'll go find Lord Fear!" Sparx said sarcastically.

"Hey!"

"… Kilobyte?" Sparx continued, mischievously.

"You want someone with _tentacles_?"

"Why would I when I can have someone with wheels?"

Random went to retaliate but just stopped and hung his head. "Thanks."

Sparx looked at him just standing there. Deep down inside she felt something click into place. Her unnatural shyness vanished, replaced with a sudden resolve. She walked up and took Random's claw and hand in hers, then waited until he looked up at her.

"Random, something _is_ happening._ I_ want something to happen. Do you want it to?"

She was looking into his eyes searching for the answer. Random could feel himself getting lost in the blue. "Sparx, I don't know if I could tell you how much I want it to…"

"What, now you're playing hard to get?"

"You really want to know exactly how I feel about you?"

"Yeah…" Sparx trailed off, one of the cars had started blaring music.

"Did you do that?" she asked.

Random just grinned at her. "Maybe this can tell you how I feel."

_True love exists, yes I know this  
__My heart was waiting for you  
__And when we met I felt my chest  
__Pound fast racing for the chance  
__To know you, to hold you  
__To open up and show you  
__The way it feels when you know…_

_You are not alone  
__Know that I would fight the tides to be together  
__When you feel alone  
__Listen to this song to make your heart feel better_

_Two hearts entwined, yes you are mine  
__And I'll be yours forever  
__I've done the maths, I'm less than half  
__We're better off together  
__And I want you here by my side  
__As much as you are on my mind  
__When I'm gone you should know_

_You are not alone  
__Know that I would fight the tides to be together  
__When you feel alone  
__Listen to this song  
__Let it make your heart feel better_

Sparx looked at Random as the music faded. "You know I didn't really pick you as the romantic type."

"It only takes the right person," said Random, still looking into her eyes.

Sparx laughed.

"What?" asked Random, blinking himself back to reality.

"We really sound like love-sick mortals, don't we?"

"If love is what it is, then we do."

"Hey, Sparx! Where are you?" It was Ace.

Sparx and Random looked up as he came in and landed.

Ace looked confused for a moment; he could've sworn Random and Sparx had been holding hands.

"Hey, Ace. What's up?" said Sparx.

"Ah… are you alright? Kat was worried."

Sparx's eyes widened. "Whoops! I forgot about her. Sorry, Ace. I was just hanging out with Random.

"For five hours?" asked Ace, even more confused.

"Don't worry, Ace," smiled Random. "I didn't do anything to her."

"I didn't mean… can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure."

"I'll go tell Kat I'm okay," said Sparx, seeing her, Mark and Chuck coming into the junkyard. Ace seemed to want to talk in private.

"What's on your mind?" Random asked when Sparx had gone.

"Chuck found a… some records about stuff that happened in the sixth dimension a while ago. Basically, we found out what happened to you, how you…"

"… got messed up?"

"Yeah."

Random gave a half-smile. "I guess I didn't have to tell Sparx then."

"You told Sparx?" asked Ace, feeling slightly hurt. "I didn't think you'd remember."

"You remember stuff like that," Random said simply.

"Then I guess the only thing I want to know… why'd you lie to me about the bomb?"

Random hadn't expected that. It threw him off balance and made him actually think about it.

"I'm not sure. I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you set it off yourself." Random stopped and shook his head. "You know what, it probably didn't even need to be set off manually."

"But the timer was broken."

"It might have been. I tried to fix it. Maybe I did. But I didn't have time to check it. So I just assumed it was still broken. I guess I just didn't trust myself."

Ace sighed. He felt that statement should've hurt him more, but he'd been hit with too much already. It was bad enough if Random had been messed up for a reason, but for none at all? _Why does if matter?_ Ace thought. _It's just a game. The only _real_ reason he's messed up is because some programmer thought it'd make it more exciting._

"It doesn't matter. I'll work it out."

Ace looked up at that. Random was looking over at Sparx, who was talking to Kat rather excitedly. Mark and Chuck were rolling their eyes, at the same time trying to listen to Sparx, but still act as if they weren't really interested.

"I think I might be alright."

Ace started to smile. He'd seen that look before. The same look he'd seen on his own face, reflected in Lady Illusion's eyes.

"Alright, Random Virus. Spill."

"What?"

"You and Sparx?"

"Yeah…" said Random slowly, but then suddenly couldn't hold it in. "Ace, I never thought I could defeat my evil. But when I look at her, I can. Not just that, but there's something in her eyes… I need."

Ace put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Good on you, buddy. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

"Go on. You'd better take Sparx back to the thunder tower before she makes me do something else crazy."

"Couldn't have that! Sparx! C'mon!"

"Spoil sport," grumbled Sparx. She whistled the lightning flash down. "Bye, guys. See you soon, Random!"

Ace and Sparx flew off into the night sky.

* * *

"Who would've thought? Sparx and Random Virus!" said Chuck as he, Mark and Kat walked back home.

"What's wrong Chuck?" teased Mark. "Did you think that 'thanks for the rescue' kiss meant something?" He was feeling less worried about Ace, who'd seemed pretty happy after talking to Random.

"No! I have a girlfriend. I don't need another one."

"Stop fighting you two," cut in Kat, smiling. "Mark, do you want to get pizza or something? I haven't had dinner yet."

"Yeah, okay. I didn't have much to eat, someone ate my dinner."

"Pizza, sweet!" said Chuck, not realizing Mark was talking about him.

Mark rolled his eyes.

* * *

"I leave you alone for one day and look what happens!" said Ace, flying up beside Sparx.

"Hey!" Sparx complained, seeing the mischievous look in Ace's eyes. "Glad to see you're in a good mood. You know, you've been a bit distant for the past few days. You alright?"

"I am now. I just had some stuff on my mind," he replied.

"Lady Illusion'll be fine. She can look after herself."

"Well, I didn't expect that from you."

"I guess I can kind of understand how you feel about her. Sort of."

"And you feel that way about Random?"

"I guess. I've never felt this way before!"

"Sparx, I know he does about you. Today he actually looked like he knew he could defeat his evil. He knows he needs to for you and him to work out. He's got something, someone, he thinks is worth fighting for."

"Thanks, Ace," Sparx smiled back at him.

"I'd say he's pretty lucky."

Sparx looked away for a second, embarrassed, but then looked back up with a mischievous grin. "Well, duh!"

Ace couldn't help laughing at that.

* * *

Random Virus stood in the junkyard. He was looking at the stars. He'd never really bothered before and wondered why he'd never taken the time.

His evil side reminded him, the cold darkness sweeping into his mind. Stronger than usual, it had been waiting all day.

Machinery reacted violently across the junkyard, set off by the inner struggle.

Random felt like his mind was ripping apart but he held on.

A few headlamps shattered, the car stereo flicked on, skipping through a dozen channels, finally spewing out a warped rendition of _fight the tides to be be be be_, then blew its speakers.

He was getting confused, his mind was contradicting itself, no longer able to differentiate between which side was saying what, or who it was supposed to listen to.

Sparx flashed across his mind. She was good. She loved him. Did she? She'd only love him if he was good. No she didn't. Yes she did. She does. Doesn't matter, she's weak. I love her.

Random opened his eyes. The cars and machinery were just shutting down.

It was only one battle. But somehow, he'd won.


End file.
